Walt Disney World Food: Is the Dining Plan as good as the Quick and Casual Meal Voucher?

Yes, you can. All it takes is a little bit of planning. 

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

The Quick & Casual Meal Voucher was a fixture of the 2003-2004 era for budget conscious travelers to Walt Disney World.  Originally designed for groups of young people, this was a flat-rate "ticket" which gave the bearer one full meal:  an entree, a drink and a dessert. 

Soon, the savy budgeting traveler got wind of these and they popped up on eBay and other auction sites.  It's value soon became obvious: the meal voucher or meal certificate as some called it, could be bought for anywhere from $11.00 to $16.00.When used at the most expensive restaurants, and ordering the most expensive meal options, these vouchers could buy a meal costing $20- $30 in some cases.

 Hotwire Savings Club was one source for online purchasers who wanted to pre-plan and pre-pay for their meals when at Disney World.

Unfortunately the introduction of the current Walt Disney Dining plan did away with meal vouchers, at least for the general public. 

Today, the travel may pay a flat fee per day and receive a pre-stated amount of food/meals. Again, when used at the 'better' WDW restaurants, this can be used to an advantage as well.

What each person on the plan receives per day:

Cost:

$37.99 per adult (age 10 & up)

$10.99 per child (age 3-9) Under 3 free

Disney states that you can save up to 40% on your meals. The catch here is that in order to buy the Dining Plan, you must book a package through Walt Disney World. That includes buying your tickets from them as well as booking your room at full rack rate (no discount codes allowed).

Whether this will save your family money depends on how much you plan on eating and if you qualify for a cheaper hotel rate, like with an Annual Pass, for example.

You need to figure your costs both ways to see if the Dining Plan will actually save you money.

Sincerely,

budgetingmom

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Here are links to some very good articles on dining at Disney:

Official Walt Disney World details
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/tickets/packageDetail?id=PackageDetailMYWDiningPkg07Page

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Mousesavers.com Discounts and Coupons for Meals, Snacks & Drinks at Disney World
http://www.mousesavers.com/meals.html

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MouseforLess Dining Plan Tracker (Excel)
http://http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/discounts/myw.shtml  
This is a great tool to help you with your meal planning

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MousePlanet.com Pre-paid Disney Dining Plan Article
http://www.mouseplanet.com/chef/disney-dining.htm

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Dining Disney Style!     by Barrie  (Great Article!)
http://www.squidoo.com/DiningInDisneyWorld/

Disney World Vacation Packages     by EverythingMouse
http://www.squidoo.com/disney-world-vacation-packages/

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Free Disney Dollars from Rewards Programs

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One way I pay for my Disney meals is with Disney Dollars. I earn about $300 each year just by clicking emails and doing quick surveys on these two sites: